


the drive

by brosura



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: (but not really), Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - I found a USB and it’s full of your holiday photographs, M/M, Meet-Cute, Meet-UnCute, Pre-Relationship, background Aracindy, prompto drops things and noctis picks him up, that wasn't a typo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-10
Updated: 2017-06-10
Packaged: 2018-11-12 08:30:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11158104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brosura/pseuds/brosura
Summary: Noctis can't seem to find the owner of the pen drive he'd picked up off the ground, but hedoesfind himself in alotof uncomfortable situations.





	the drive

**Author's Note:**

> saw a prompt for an "[I found a USB and it’s full of your holiday photographs](http://brosura.tumblr.com/post/161604321186/aus-id-love-to-see)" AU and crawled out of my well whisperin' _promptis_.
> 
> special thanks to my beta [cara](http://queen-tabris.tumblr.com/) who also had this exact idea and enabled this fic
> 
> anyway, hope y'all enjoy this vague college AU!!

“Oh shit,” Noctis says. “Free pen drive.”

 _“Must_ you?” Ignis hisses as Noctis stops mid-step to pick it up off the ground.

“Actually, I must.” Noctis wipes the thing on the leg of his pants before jamming it in his pocket. “Been needing one for class.”

“They why don’t you just _buy_ one?” His glare is distinctly disapproving for a moment, then he’s turning and walking in the direction of their class. “You know, with the money that you _actually have,_ rather than stealing one from whatever unfortunate soul dropped it on the ground.”

“Yeesh, _alright,”_ Noctis grumbles, falling into step next to Ignis. “You can calm down, mom. I’ll try to find out who it belongs to first. That make you happy?”

Ignis’ entire expression is flat as he says, “Overjoyed.”

* * *

Noctis gets around to checking after class.

He’s almost forgotten about the pen drive entirely, if he’s going to be honest. He only remembers when he goes for his keys and feels the drive instead.

 _Please be empty,_ he thinks as he uncaps the drive and plugs it in. _Or just don’t have any helpful info._

He groans when the popup window shows neatly organized folders, labeled with dates and abbreviations. A quick check shows that the drive is almost full, even. That’s when another thought occurs to him.

 _Please don’t be serial killer stuff or weird porn,_ he prays, bracing himself as he clicks on one of the folders labeled only with a date.

To his relief, it’s nothing awful.

In fact, it seems like whoever owns this pen drive had a _great_ time. The folder is full of pictures of the beach, from what Noctis can see in the thumbnails. A cursory glance over the other folders shows that they’re full of pictures as well.

Which is _unhelpful,_ to say the least. He was hoping he’d find a resume or term paper or something. If he was lucky, he’d get an e-mail address or specific class number that he could go to. But at minimum, he was hoping for a _name._ Now he’s going to have to look over all of this stranger’s photos.

Like a _creep._

He avoids the beach folder for obvious reasons and goes through all the others instead.

Only they’re _very_ unhelpful. Whoever this dude is, he clearly likes taking photos. There are pictures of food, animals, flowers, trees, landscapes. Very few of people and none of himself. Or herself? Well, whoever they were, it was probably too much to hope that they were a selfie fiend.

They’re good photos, though, don’t get him wrong. Maybe even great photos. Noctis doesn’t know shit about photography but all of the pictures have a professional feel to them, like they were taken by someone who _does_ know shit about photography.

 _Oh shit, that’s his first clue!_ Mystery Dude’s probably… into photography?

Noctis sighs to himself. It’s not much of a lead, anyone can be into photography. But it’s _something_. He sees a few photos on campus, so whoever Mystery Dude is probably carries an expensive looking camera with them to class.

He keeps that in mind as he ejects the pen drive. He’s got a headache and stayed up long past the point where he was supposed to sleep. He’ll check again tomorrow.

* * *

He doesn’t mean to approach the guy, he really doesn’t.

It’s just, he’s on his way to class and there’s a boy squatted near some bushes with an expensive camera, probably taking a picture of a flower (like a good majority of the photos on the pen drive), and Noctis can’t help but _wonder_. It’d be a miracle if that was the Mystery Dude, but stranger things have happened.

And it’d certainly be a weight off his back if he could stop looking through photos _like a creep_.

So he tries to be casual as he saunters up and says, “Excuse me.”

The guy doesn’t seem to notice, though, since he keeps fidgeting away at his camera.

“Excuse me,” he repeats, laying a hand on the stranger’s shoulder.

“O-oh shit!” the guy yells, jumping back in alarm. When he realizes Noctis isn’t a serial killer and/or bear, he lets out a shaky laugh. “O-oooh man, give a guy a warning! You almost gave me a heart attack there!”

He laughs - something awkward and anxious - and gives Noctis a nervous grin as he pushes his glasses back into place and runs a hand through his soft-looking blond hair, face flushed enough it accentuated the smattering of freckles over his cheeks and _shit he’s cute._

“D-do you like taking pictures?” Noctis says, wincing at himself. _Gods, he sounds so awkward. Wait, shit, he didn’t even introduce himself first._

“U-uh, yeah,” the boy says. The wariness and alarm are back in his expression. Noctis can feel that this is going to end badly.

“I, um, I’m Noctis,” Noctis grates out. “I, uh, I think I have something for you.”

“Nice, right,” the boy says. His grin is _completely nervous_ now. “I’m sure it’s great, but sorry buddy, I gotta, uh, _go to class.”_

And he _goes._

Probably not to class, but looking back on his own behavior - approaching someone out of nowhere, not even introducing himself, saying vague and mysterious shit - well, Noctis would have run away, too.

* * *

Noctis almost doesn’t want to go through the drive after class. He’s still so embarrassed at himself for fucking up in front of that cute photographer boy. _How is he going to approach anyone else after that kind of disaster?_

But he shoves that embarrassment down and plugs the drive in, if only so that whoever lost all these photos can be reunited with all their hard work.

He’s still pointedly avoiding the beach folder as he browses today. It’s a lot of the same as yesterday. A few artfully lit cups of coffee. Someone’s dog. A street sign from the main part of campus. A sunset.

His breakthrough today comes from a picture of a pretty girl with short, curly dirty-blonde hair. She’s putting up a middle finger at the cameraman with a friendly wink, but more _helpfully_ , she’s wearing a sweater bearing the Engineering School’s logo, with a baseball cap to match!

She’s probably not Mystery Dude - Mystery Dude doesn’t seem like the kind of person to trust someone else with their precious camera - but she seems to _know_ Mystery Dude.

And while the Engineering campus is big, it’s at least a finite area to look for a familiar face.

 _This time_ , he thinks, _this time he’ll be smooth._

* * *

This time he is _not_ smooth.

She’s surprisingly easy to find. He’s on the Engineering campus for maybe fifteen minutes - fifteen minutes of feeling _scrutinized_ by every person walking by, like they can _smell_ an outsider - when he sees her.

She’s sitting on a bench, wearing the same sweater, legs crossed and playing with her phone. Noctis rehearses what he’s going to say to her twice before he even tries to approach her.

“Hey, excuse me?” he asks. He’s impressed with himself for not stuttering after yesterday, to be honest. He thinks maybe he’s congratulated himself too soon when she looks up at him, though, expression unimpressed.

“You got something to say, honey?” she says, in a cold… Southern drawl? “Go on and say it.”

“O-ok,” Noctis gulps. “Ok, this is going to sound _super weird_ , but do you happen to know a guy who takes pictures?”

The girl looks genuinely confused for a moment, then something seems to click in her head because her expression changes. Whatever clicks is the _wrong thing_ , though, because she just lets out a little laugh and gives him a sympathetic look.

“Tried real hard on that one, didn’t you?” she laughs. “Took a minute, though. Now, I want to be clear when I say I ain’t interested, but you’ve got the makings of a sweet little pick-up line there. Save it for the bar though, sweetheart.”

“Pick-up line?” Noctis winces. “Wait, no, that’s not what I meant! I’m asking-”

“This guy giving you trouble?” someone says directly behind him.

Noctis yelps before he can help himself, and comforts himself with the fact that the woman behind him is a _terrifying vision_ dressed in leather so he was _totally justified_ in his fear.

“Ain’t nothing I can’t handle,” the girl laughs, practically skipping up to the _terrifying vision_  to link an arm in hers. “Thanks for pickin’ me up, Aranea.”

“No problem, babe,” Aranea says. She sends one more glare Noct’s way before walking the girl in the direction of a motorcycle.

A _motorcycle_.

Noctis could only _hope_ to be half as cool.

* * *

So, the Engineering girl is a no-go. Noctis is honestly too mortified to try again, so he plugs in the pen drive to make a third attempt at identifying Mystery Dude.

Problem is, the only thing left is the beach folder.

“Oh yeah, _found your pen drive,_ dude,” Noctis says to himself, tone mocking, as he opens the first photo. “Went through all your pictures. What? Even the ones of you and your friends _half-naked on the beach?_ Yeah, those, too.”

He grumbles and prepares himself for the discomfort of it all.

He’s not surprised to see Engineering girl in the pictures. He blushes and flips as quickly as he can through those pictures because she looks _really good_ under the sweater. Aranea’s there, too. She’s actually smiling, which is weird to see, considering how _terrifyingly cool_ she’d been earlier. If there were any doubts she and Engineering girl were a couple, they’re _gone now._ He feels himself flushing, feeling like a voyeur as he speeds through photos of them kissing or cuddling, looking happy as they lounge on the beach.

Then suddenly there’s the selfie he’s been looking for this _whole time._

Noctis almost throws his computer.

Standing there, a little pink from the sun and winking at him, is the photographer boy he’d approached the other day.

_He’d been right!_

Mystery Dude _was_ the photographer dude! They were the same person! Oh gods, how was he going to approach the guy now? How would he even _find_ him? He keeps flipping through the photos in the hopes of finding his answer.

And he _does._

 _“Luna!”_ he practically yells. His old study partner is there, lounging on the beach with a juice box in hand, a serene smile on her face as she regards the cute photographer boy.

He texts her immediately.

* * *

“Are you alright, Noctis?” Luna says, concerned, when Noctis bursts through the door of the cafe they used to frequent. “You sounded quite urgent over the phone.”

“Do you know a blonde guy, with freckles? Takes pictures?”

Luna blinks at him. “Prompto?”

 _“Him!”_ Noctis practically yells. He pulls the offending material from his pocket and tosses it down on the table. _“This_ is his pen drive.”

“Oh?” Luna blinks at the pen drive for a few moments before a realization seems to dawn on her. “Oh! He’s been so worried about this! To think _you_ would have had it all along.”

“Luna,” he says, dropping into the seat with an exhausted huff now that he’s finally given up his burden. “You would not _believe_ what I had to do to figure out whose pen drive that was.”

“It was very kind of you to try at all.” Luna smiles that gentle smile that always had Noctis blushing a little. “Prompto will be relieved to have it back.”

Noctis blushes a little, remembering that picture of Luna he’d found in the folder. It wasn’t scandalous, but it seemed really intimate now that he’s thinking back. He felt like he was intruding on something private.

“Uh, are you, y’know, dating this Prompto guy?” he says, hoping that he doesn’t come off as one of those weird, possessive guys when he’s genuinely just wondering.

Luna seems to get him, though, which was what he’s always liked about her. Why they’d gotten along since they’d been assigned as partners for a group project their freshman year. He could be awkward, but Luna understood.

“Oh, _goodness_ no,” she laughs. “He’s merely one of my flatmates. I suppose you’d never met him, since I moved in with him and his friends after our class had ended. Actually,” she gives him a hopeful look, holding out the pen drive. “Our house isn’t very far from here. Would you like to give this to him in person?”

Despite his dread at seeing cute photographer boy - _Prompto_ \- again, he can’t deny he’s eager to explain himself, given the second chance. Especially since he has Luna to back him up and corroborate the general un-creepiness of his character.

And it’s been a while since he’s caught up with Luna. He’s missed their regular coffee hang-outs while they were taking their introductory classes together, and he’s happy to have the excuse to spend time with her again now that they have less time to see each other.

“Sounds good,” he says.

* * *

The walk to Luna’s apartment is pleasant and filled with friendly chatter. Noctis learns that Luna has taken on another major since they’d last seen each other, that she still likes to garden, that her brother Ravus is still an overbearing nag.

It’s just enough that Noctis feels relaxed when they finally make it to Luna’s apartment. He’s even got his apology all worked out in his head. _‘Hey, sorry I was creepy before,’_ and everything. He thinks this is going to be fine.

He thinks he’s prepared.

Of course, he _isn’t._

Because not only is Prompto _right there_ in the common area when Luna opens the door with a gentle, “I’m home,” but he’s in a headlock courtesy of _Aranea._ And a cursory glance of the room shows that Engineering girl is there as well, looking on in amusement.

This was some worst case scenario shit he hadn’t even _remotely_ prepared for.

 _“Lunaaaa,”_ Prompto whines. “Aranea’s being _mean_ to me!”

“Only ‘cause you’re being pitiful again,” Aranea grins something vicious, kneading Prompto’s scalp with her knuckles. “Come out from behind those clouds, sunshine! Quit moping, keep hoping!”

“Ah, actually Prompto,” Luna says, stepping aside to reveal Noctis at the door. “My friend Noctis found your pen drive.”

And just like that the sunshine emerges from behind the clouds. Prompto shrugs off Aranea and rushes up to him with a look of undisguised relief and joy, and for a brief, merciful moment Noctis thinks he doesn’t recognize him.

“Oh em gee, you _saved_ my _life,_ du-” Then Prompto squints at him for a bit before recognition sets in and he flinches back. “It’s _you!”_

Noctis sighs. “Ok, look. I’m -”

“Aranea, it’s that creepy guy!”

Aranea gives him a look of disinterest before she, too, seems to recognize him. “Hey Cindy, isn’t this the punk that hit on you?”

Engineering girl - Cindy - pities him at least. Or at least, has pity on her face as she _throws him under the bus._ “That’s him alright. Strange little fella.”

Aranea turns to Prompto, who shrinks back, a flush creeping up his neck. “Seriously, Prompto? _‘Kinda cute, but super creepy’?_ He isn’t even that cute!” She rounds on Noctis next. “And _you,_ what the fuck-?”

“I just wanted to return this, _ok?!”_ Noctis yells, flushing. He has the pen drive out and in his hand like a peace offering. He can’t take much more of this, even if, in a backhanded kind of way, he’d found out that cute photographer guy thought he was cute, too. He’s sure he’s got a full body flush by now. He sighs. “I’m _sorry._ I wasn’t trying to hit on you.” He addresses Cindy before turning back to Prompto. “And I _know_ I was creepy. Believe me, I _know!_ But I really _was_ just trying to return this pen drive! I’ll just… leave it here and go.”

He sets it down on a little table next to a bowl full of keys by the door. The occupants of the room stare at him in a mixture of shock and disbelief.

“I’ll talk to you later, Luna,” he says, flushing, as he turns towards the door. Then suddenly, all the frustration of the last few days rushes through him. He turns and points a finger at Prompto accusingly, “And _you!_ If it’s that important to you, make a text file with your e-mail on it or _something!”_

He hears Cindy say, “So he really _did_ just mean a guy who took photos…” as he shuts - not slams, he’s not an _asshole_ \- the door behind him.

He’s all the way down the stairs when he hears No Longer Mystery Dude call him by name. He almost thinks about ignoring him, but he waits at the bottom of the stairs since apparently he’s a glutton for punishment. Prompto seems surprised to find him when he rounds the corner on the staircase, slightly out of breath.

“Hey,” he breathes, bashful smile on his face. “Glad I caught you.”

“Weird,” Noctis deadpans. “That you’re running _towards_ me this time.”

“Come _on,_ dude. You gotta admit that was _really creepy_ of you.”

“Yeah.” Noctis laughs. “I really _am_ sorry about that.”

“It’s cool, I get that the whole ‘approaching a stranger’ thing can be hard. So, let’s not be strangers,” Prompto gives him that bashful smile again. He looks comfortable, though. A far cry from that shaky smile several days ago. Noctis finds himself flushing again. “You can call me Prompto. And you’re Noctis, right?”

Noctis can only nod.

“Anyway, you really did me a favor bringing that pen drive back, Noctis. I know we got off on a bad start, but I want you to hear it, so _thank you,_ dude!” Prompto grins, and it’s bright as the sun. “Really, thanks!”

“I-it’s not a problem,” Noctis finds himself stuttering, even though it really was. It really was a problem. He’s really got a problem and its name is Prompto, apparently.

“Aw, hey, don’t try to be cool!” Prompto teases, punching at his shoulder lightly. “C’mon, Luna says there’s a bakery you like nearby. It’ll be my treat!”

“You really don’t have to,” Noctis trails off, flushing.

“Uh, I really _do_ have to,” Prompto repeats in a mocking tone. He’s already dragging Noctis by an arm. “You saved my life dude, the _least_ I could do is pay for a tart or two.”

“Y’know you’ve said I saved your life twice now,” Noctis says. “What exactly is _on_ that pen drive?”

Prompto flushes. “My entire portfolio for my thesis.”

“What?!” Noctis practically chokes. He suddenly feels like Ignis. _“Please_ tell me you had a back-up.”

“Eh heh.” Prompto rubs the back of his neck, and Noctis feels _immense_ secondhand stress.

Their little trip to the bakery ends up being half playful teasing and half Noctis _lecturing Prompto_ on being more responsible with his belongings - Ignis is _infectious,_ apparently - and Noctis can’t help feeling upset with himself, because this isn’t how he was hoping this would go.

But he must have done something right because, at the end of it, Prompto gives Noctis his number with a shy smile and flushed cheeks. “Y’know, in case you find something of mine again.”  

* * *

Six months later finds them in a bar, fingers intertwined, as Prompto tells the story of how they met to his classmates after their project presentations.

“And then he comes up behind me - doesn’t say a word - and grabs my shoulder, y’know, _like a serial killer_ -”

“Prompto,” Noctis groans. “Can you maybe skip that part?”

**Author's Note:**

> 10 yrs later prompto and noct's kids will ask "how did u and dad meet, pops?' and prompto will answer "well he snuck up behind me and grabbed me, like a serial killer-" and noctis will sigh, long and tired.
> 
> anyway hope y'all enjoyed that! please feel free to leave me a comment or give me a [lil yell](http://brosura.tumblr.com/ask) on my [tumblr](http://brosura.tumblr.com/).
> 
> \- kat ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿


End file.
